


One Day A Year

by apprepuff



Category: jacksepticeye
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Gen, gay if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 14:56:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18317576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apprepuff/pseuds/apprepuff
Summary: Anti won’t be alone on Christmas anymore.





	One Day A Year

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! :D

Anti sat in his spot in the shadow dimension, twiddling with his knife and his strings. On Earth, it was the day the humans called “Christmas”. He knew the date and the festivities from stalking the other egos. It actually sounded like fun, from what he knew! But he had never really had a chance to truly partake in this tradition. He had nobody to celebrate with, after all.

 

Unlike his rival, Darkiplier, who was welcomed into the arms of the other Iplier egos every holiday season, Anti rejected any attempts of peace made towards him. He was a demon, after all. His life’s purpose was to kill them. Why would he celebrate a special day with them?

 

Ever since he knew of this tradition, however, he had partaken in it alone, in secret.

 

He had stolen a small plant from Jack’s house, and a short line of fairy lights from a nearby shop. He decorated the plant every year with the lights, some strings, and some little trinkets that he had stolen from the other egos. He had made himself a red sweater, intertwined with green in a spiky pattern.

 

And so, every Christmas, he would leave his shadow dimension with his tree. He would find a nice secluded spot in the human world, and sit there all day — in his sweater, with his tree, watching the pretty little snowflakes fall and taking in the sights around him, feeling a little less disdain for the mortal world.

 

For the glitch, Christmas was a time to relax, to unwind.

 

And yet, he always spent it alone. Not embraced, like Dark.

 

On his first Christmas, he didn’t know that this was considered “depressing” in the human world. But, when he did learn, it made sense. Billions of humans spent the sacred winter holiday with family or friends. Even those who had nobody or nothing seemed to be treated with kindness, and seemed to join a group of other people to celebrate, whether in a soup kitchen, at a volunteer drive, or anything else of the sort.

 

Not him, though.

 

Anti didn’t make contact with a single soul during the holidays. And he was okay with that. He didn’t need anyone.

 

So he was perfectly content when he decided to stay inside this Christmas. Laying on the ground, in the pitch black void of his realm’s outskirts. Far enough that the normal sounds of his homeworld were silenced by the distance.

 

The only light came from his slight electrical glow, and the tiny multicoloured fairy lights hung on his small tree. The only sounds were his gentle breathing, quiet static, and the almost silent buzzing of the electrical decorations on his tree.

 

Watching those little lights flash, and feeling the embracing, comforting warmth of his red and green sweater woven in his magic thread, made him smile. No sinister grin or sarcastic smirk. Just a genuine, calm, happy smile.

 

Nothing could hurt him today, and he didn’t need to hurt anyone today. He could have a moment’s peace, if only for one day a year. The possibility made him smile. It made him happy.

 

He let his eyes flutter closed, basking in the light from his tree and the coziness of his sweater, and let drowsiness wash over him. He was just about to fall asleep, when…

 

“Anti?”

 

The sound of an Irish-accented voice cutting through the darkness to call for him almost startled him, but not enough to make him flinch. It was quiet, gentle. Unusual for the man it belonged to, with how loud he was normally.

 

Anti opened his eyes again to see none other than Jack a little way’s in the distance.

 

Concern shimmered in his blue eyes, as he donned his blue, winter-themed “PMA” sweater. The demon slowly sat up to look at him, softly groaning and letting out a long yawn as he pulled himself from his near-slumberland.

 

“Hey, Jack.”

 

“Nice tree.” came a gentle, praising quippe from the Irishman.

 

Anti nodded and shrugged, yawning again. He wasn’t in the mood to question why Jack was being so nice to him. “Thanks. You’re not getting it back.” The demon chuckled a bit, as Jack sat down across from him.

 

The glitch raised an eyebrow, but his expression relaxed back to tranquil, sleepy calmness as he watched Seán take in the sight of his tree. The soft red and green lights flashed in a slow rhythm, and Anti watched as the colours of the reflection in the human’s eyes changed. He seemed to like the demon’s impromptu Christmas tree, if the sparkles in his calm eyes and small, admiring smile said anything.

 

So, the two sat for a little while, not saying anything, and gazing at the tree. Anti didn’t know how much time had passed before Seán turned to him, and outstretched a hand to lay on the side of his upper arm.

 

“Hey. Listen.”

 

Anti turned his head. “Hm? What?” he mumbled, still in a trance from watching the lights.

 

“I know that you celebrate alone each year, Anti. The community told me, and honestly… that’s kinda sad. They told me how you’re jealous if Dark for having a.. “family” to spend the holidays with. So the other egos wanted me to ask you if you wanted to spend Christmas with us this year. Forget all the bad times, if only for one night, you know?”

 

The glitch didn’t know how to respond for a good few seconds.

 

“...Christmas... with you guys...?” he mumbled, still processing the request. Instead of getting annoyed or laughing, Seán nodded.

 

“Yeah. With us. You don’t have to say yes, but.. maybe we could put aside all the fighting, and you could have a… “family” to spend Christmas with. Maybe only for this year, but maybe every year. T’is the season to put all the bullshit from the rest of the year aside, y’know?”

 

The demon thought about it for a moment, then slowly nodded.

 

“I’m in a good mood. Who knows. Maybe I’ll even like having you dorks around for the holidays.”

 

Jack smiled brightly and stood up, extending a hand to help Anti to his feet too.

 

“Thank you. Now come on, they’re waiting for us. And anytime I come here and ain’t back in ten minutes, Henrik thinks I died.”

 

The Irishman chuckled at the memory, before leading Anti to a rip in reality that Marvin had created for them to come through.

 

* * *

 

Upon stepping through and entering the mortal world, still hand-in-hand with the human, Anti noticed a very stark change in scenery. There was no void to be found — the entire house was lit very softly, with fairy lights decorating the walls, and the lights set to low settings, with a very clearly homemade, but rather effective, pastel red filter stuck onto them. Anti smirked a bit to himself. Definitely looked like Jackie’s work. And unlike the calming silence of the shadow outskirts, there was quiet, happy chattering that could be heard from the living room.

 

Anti had no time to be nervous or negative, because Jack strode in without any hesitation, hand still holding firm on the demon’s. Within less than a second, everyone in the room turned their heads, and the chattering quieted.

 

“Hey, Anti,” Marvin greeted quietly, a small smile spreading over his face.

 

“Uh, hey,” Anti mumbled in response.

 

The egos smiled brightly at the demon, who immediately felt the familiar, tight feeling of social awkwardness rise in his chest. But nobody was yelling. Nobody was scowling at him, or cowering in fear. Today seemed to be a day of peace. Even the Scrooge of the egos, Henrik von Schneeplestein, whom he had fought with a lot in the past and whom had claimed to hate the holidays, turned around to smile at Anti, his back against the arm of the couch and a mug of hot cocoa held gingerly in his hands.

 

“Merry Christmas, Anti,” he chimed calmly, in his thick German accent. “Make yourself right at home. Care to sit vith us?”

 

Anti nodded slowly, and the doctor patted a spot next to him. Jack chuckled as he let go of Anti’s hand and gently guided the demon to sit down between Henrik and Chase, then stood up and waved his hands in front of him a little bit to catch the attention of the others in the room.

 

“I’m going to get some more food for everyone, so sit tight and let’s make sure we don’t scare Anti, alright? This is his first time spending Christmas with anyone else. Be gentle, darn it.”

 

The other egos nodded, and Jack smiled at them before departing to the kitchen.

 

Anti instinctually curled in on himself shortly after Jack was out of the room. He hugged his arms, pressed one leg slightly against the other, and put his head down. He didn’t want to appear too confident, or the others might kick him out. So the glitch tried to take up as little space as he could, as to not make himself seem like a bother.

 

It was something about the holidays that always triggered his shyer side to take over. As he hugged his knees to his chest, he hoped that the others around him wouldn’t notice how he constricted in on his own space — but they did.

 

Anti felt a sudden, pleasant warmth on his side and shoulders, coming from his left, and turned his head to see that Henrik had gently placed an arm around him and pulled him slightly closer, his other hand still holding the mug of cocoa.

 

How long had it been since the glitch had had this kind of physical intimacy? The rest of the room seemed to drown out as Anti and the doctor locked eyes, concern dancing with affection in the German’s blue irises.

 

“Are you okay?” Henrik asked quietly. “You’re so... quiet, and nervous. Zhis isn’t like you. And you’re so cold... do you feel alright...?”

 

Anti pondered lying, but decided against it and shook his head. “I’ve never had people around me during Christmas. And.. I don’t get much physical contact.”

 

Henrik frowned as the rest of the room faded back into focus. He reached forward, placing his hot chocolate on the coffee table in front of him, and used his now-free hand to pull the chilly demon towards him, until Anti found himself in the doctor’s lap, head on his chest and comfortable, inviting warmth surrounding him, enveloping him in an unfamiliar but pleasant heat.

 

He instinctually moved towards it, the side of his head finding a comfortable resting position on the doctor’s chest as he shifted ever so slightly towards him, his sharp-nailed hand finding a grip on Henrik’s sweater. The German smiled and rested his head on the shorter ego’s, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

 

Anti was well aware that the chatter had quieted a small bit as the room’s focus had shifted to the two of them. When he felt another arm wrap around him from Henrik’s right, he opened his eyes to see that Chase was hugging both of them, donning a holiday sweater just like everyone else in the room.

 

The extra heat was a welcome addition, and soon enough, Henrik had moved to the floor in front of the coffee table, and the rest of the egos had joined in to form a giant Christmas cuddle pile.

 

Anti was enveloped in a heaven of warmth, so different from the chill of the shadow realm, and it made him sleepy yet again. But he didn’t want to sleep yet. The glitch wanted to relish in the knowledge that the others didn’t hate him — at least, not tonight.

 

He heard Jameson yawn, along with the familiar sounds of Robbie’s undead joints cracking as he stretched, and turned his head slightly to see that almost everyone was asleep. He, Angus, and Henrik were the only egos that remained awake. Henrik was silent, and Angus was watching Shawn Flynn, his close friend, sleep peacefully next to him.

 

Anti’s stirring alerted the doctor holding him, and he looked down at him. His movement, in turn, drew the Australian’s attention towards them.

 

“Anti?” Henrik inquired drowsily. It appeared that Anti had actually woken him. Oops.

 

“Eh?” the demon responded, another yawn finding its way out of his throat. Angus turned his head to look at them.

 

“You two comfy..?” he chuckled. “Looks like it.”

 

Henrik nodded tiredly, definitely clinging onto his last string of consciousness. “I like having something to cuddle..” he murmured sleepily, clearly not all there.

 

Anti felt his face burn. How embarrassing..! But he couldn’t bring himself to disagree. This human sign of affection that they called “cuddling” was such a comfortable feeling. So warm and secure...

 

He was shaken awake once again by Angus reaching over and running his fingers through the glitch’s soft green hair. Anti almost purred. What a calming feeling.

 

“Hey,” Angus whispered.

 

Anti could hear Henrik’s quiet snoring above him, so he blinked at the Aussie to signal to him to continue his statement. Angus smiled softly.

 

“Maybe this could become a regular thing. Y’know, hanging out like this. The others like ya, I like ya, and you like us enough to fall asleep in Henrik’s lap.” He winked as he added that last part, and Anti gently swatted his arm in embarrassment, being careful not to stir too much and wake the doctor.

 

Angus chuckled, his hand now finding its way to tilt the glitch’s face towards him.

 

“Maybe Jack was right about you. Maybe you’re not about killin’ everyone.”

 

Too tired to put up an angry facade, Anti simply nodded. “Y’all ain’t that bad..” he murmured. “At least, when you’re calm like this.. not sure if I could handle being around during the energetic day-to-day shit..”

 

The Australian ego chuckled again. “I don’t blame ya. I can barely handle it myself. Why do you think I’m outside all the time?” He smiled and cut off the conversation there, laying down next to Shawn and putting a protective arm over him, letting his eyes flutter closed.

 

Anti watched him for a few minutes, until soft snoring could be heard from the survival hunter. Anti decided that, well, that was the end of that, and turned his head slightly towards Henrik’s chest, letting the familiar sleepiness of the holiday season finally guide him off into slumberland.

 

* * *

 

An indiscernible amount of time later, the glitch was stirred awake by the familiar voices of the other egos. He was vaguely aware of Henrik now being wide awake, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care as he tried to fall back asleep.

 

“Aww, look at him!” chimed Marvin quietly.

 

“Never thought he’d be soft enough to fall asleep in the Doc’s lap,” interjected a very-strongly-Irish-accented voice, which could only belong to Shawn.

 

“Oh, Shawn, don’t bully the little lad!” rang Jameson’s familiar British accent, followed by a soft laugh from the man he had scolded.

 

Anti finally tugged himself awake, opening his eyes just enough to see everyone looking at him, their regular warm smiles on their faces. His face burned as he tried to sit up and regain his dignity, but he was too tired to move too much, so he gave up and relaxed.

 

“What’s everyone starin’ at me for?” he muttered. Halfway through his sentence, he noticed that Jack had returned, and the human held a mug of cocoa out to the demon.

 

“We’ve never seen you asleep, and you look cute,” he quipped. Anti rolled his eyes and took the cup, nodding his thanks before taking a sip. It was scalding hot, so hot it burned the demon’s tongue — aka, the perfect temperature for cocoa.

 

Anti hummed a little bit, taking a small sip and setting the mug aside.

 

“Why were y’all fuckers watching me sleep..? And how long was I out..?” Anti inquired. Henrik shrugged.

 

“About two hours or so. Not long. And ve vere vaiting for you to vake up, so ve could give you your Christmas gift!”

 

Anti felt his face flush again. Damn, three times now?! He raised an eyebrow. “You guys got me a gift…?” he asked.

 

Jameson nodded excitedly. “But of course! We want you to feel included, so it only felt right to get you something! We were on a bit of a tight budget this year, so forgive us if it’s not much..”

 

Anti smiled a bit. “You kiddin’, Jamie? Budget doesn’t matter. You got something for me and that’s what makes me happy.”

 

When a warm smile spread over Jameson’s face, the glitch realized what he had said, and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, pulling the collar of his sweater slightly up to cover the bottom of his face. Where in the hell did _that_ come from?!

 

“Aww, Anti, that’s so sweet of you!” Jack chimed. Anti huffed nonchalantly.

 

“Well, you’re being nice to me, may as well return the favour.. but hey, taking the conversational topic off of my lack of social skills, you mentioned a gift…?”

 

The others nodded, as Robbie took a gift box out from behind him and pushed it gently towards Anti. The box was dark green with a bright red, sparkly ribbon. The glitch smiled at the zombie, carefully undid the ribbon, and then took off the top.

 

There were a few things in the box, such as cards and even some little drawings from Henrik and Chase’s kids. Anti picked them up, read the cards and inspecting the drawings, smiling.

 

The last thing Anti’s eyes settled on was an even smaller white box. He opened that too, and inside was a necklace with a silver shark tooth in it. A smile lit up his face as he slipped it on and toyed a bit with the charm.

 

“Hey, this thing looks pretty damn good!” he chuckled. No sarcasm, not even any glitching. Just clear, sincere praise to the others for their choice of gift. Anti saw their curious, worried expressions light up and turn into cheer and relief.

 

“Thank god!” Jackie laughed. “We were worried that you wouldn’t like it..”

 

Anti flinched a little bit when the others formed another group hug around him, but smiled and accepted it, resting his head in the crook of Henrik’s neck and letting his hand find its grip back on his sweater as the comforting warmth embraced him again.

 

Where had all the spite for these mortals gone? Who cared? He relished in the feeling of not being alone anymore, humming softly. Jack’s voice rang clear through the comfortable silence after a few minutes.

 

“Anti, how would you feel about spending every Christmas here?”

 

“We could fix up a room for ya,” Angus added.

 

“Maybe.. it doesn’t have to be just Christmas?” Robbie’s slow, soft voice suggested.

 

Everyone turned to look at him, and he recoiled a bit nervously, but Jameson nodded softly at him to keep talking.

 

“Maybe every day..” the zombie continued. “You wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. We could go out like friends do.. and could.. stop fighting. Everything could be... nice.”

 

Anti was genuinely surprised that Robbie had just offered him a permanent place in their home. He thought about it.

 

He would most likely give up his evil ways, everything he had strived for since his creation. Possibly be called weak, a traitor, a mortal-lover. He would also have to return the plant he stole from Jack.

 

But, in turn, he could start his life over. Have a family to spend the holidays with. Wake up to friendly faces, instead of the chaotic constant fighting and chaos of the shadow realm.

 

He could remain an enemy, or he could become family.

 

The demon outstretched his hand to loop his arm around Robbie’s shoulders, smiling up at the zombie.

 

“I’d like that.”


End file.
